A Classic Wedding at The Lyford Cay Club
Victoria “Vicky” Pool, a project manager at Bloomberg News, met Owen Holm, an associate at Kildonan Castle Asset Management at a “40 and Under” cocktail party at the Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, New York. Owen had recently gotten to know Vicky’s brother, Elliott, and promptly had him make the introductions.
The two dated for about two and a half years prior to becoming engaged in Lyford Cay, where Vicky’s parents have a house. “Owen had to take a red eye in from visiting his parents in Arizona,” remembers Vicky. “He landed in the Bahamas and was immediately thrown into a golf tournament with my family. After that, we went for a walk on the beach where he proposed.” The two celebrated with family and friends that afternoon, and then later that evening, Owen had set up a special romantic dinner at the Yacht Club overlooking the marina.
Wedding planning started shortly thereafter, and the two didn’t have to look too far for a location. “Owen and I have had a lot of firsts in Lyford,” explains Vicky. “It was one of our first major vacations together, the first place we said ‘I love you,’ and we both truly love the energy and activities being at Lyford Cay gives us. We knew we wanted an island wedding and went with that theme throughout the weekend. When a hurricane hit a month before the wedding, we were a little worried to say the least, but we ultimately knew our guests would fall in love with Lyford as much as we had regardless of some bare palm trees.”
The festivities kicked off on Thursday night with a limbo party hosted by the couple’s friends that featured the famous Action Jackson limbo dancer. Friday night, there was the rehearsal dinner and a traditional Junkanoo party with Bahamian dancers. During the days, we had a golf tournament and a tennis round robin for guests to participate in. And then on Saturday night, Vicky wanted the wedding tent to feel clean and crisp with lots of palm frans and vegetation. “We knew this would stand out amidst all of the bright colors our guests would be wearing,” she says. Vicky enlisted the help of wedding coordinator Paulette Davis from Amour Affairs, which is based in the Bahamas, to help with all of the details. Araxie Avron of Wildflowers did the design and decor of the tent, working to make Vicky’s vision a reality.
After searching high and low, Vicky decided on a Vera Wang wedding dress with clean lines and intricate Chantilly lace accents. “I absolutely fell in love with it the moment I tried it on,” she says. “There was also this elegant lace around the top of the dress that I thought brought a softness to it. My veil was my something borrowed, lent to me by a bridesmaid, and it had a beautiful lace trim to match. I knew I wanted a little sparkle, so I wore pearl earrings with diamonds on the stud paired with a classic diamond tennis bracelet, a cute nod to the fact that our first date was possibly a tennis match, depending on who’s telling the story.” Vicky accented the dress with nude Salvatore Ferragamo bow shoes. “They were built for comfort and speed,” she jokes. “I knew I was going to be dancing all night and that this classic style would get me to the finish line.”
The ceremony was held on the back lawn of the clubhouse. “I wanted guests to enjoy the majority of the day so we held the service right before sunset,” says Vicky. After the ceremony, guests had cocktails on the back porch listening to a steel drum band while enjoying the classic Lyford cocktail, the Rum Dum.
Everyone then moved into a clear top tent decorated with bistro lights and wicker balls for the reception. Tables were dressed in clean crisp white with wicker accents and luscious green centerpieces and white flowers. After a steak dinner, the band Liquid Pleasure took the stage. “As a University of Virginia alum, I was really excited to have them at my wedding,” says Vicky. “They used to play at fraternity parties back in the day, and I knew they would bring a good time. They dressed in blue sparkle jackets, were interactive with the crowd, and put on an amazing show.”
The newlyweds’ first dance was to The Tams’ “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.” “We loved the message this song gave,” says Vicky. “We had about four dance lessons before the wedding to learn a few core moves and get some of the jitters out. Being the dancers that we are, we lasted about 30 seconds before completely abandoning everything we learned from the lessons and just going with our hearts.” A confetti cannon really got the party started, and family and friends danced non-stop for 3 hours straight. “We had set up a cigar rolling station, and there was late night food to satisfy those who had already burned off dinner on the dance floor,” says Vicky. When the band stopped, the bride changed into a classic short white Lily Pulitzer dress, and those still going strong moved into the Lyford Cay Little Club Bar, which has been transformed into a DJ nightclub, and there the party kept going until the early morning.
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